Category: Poetry

Fiction, Poetry, Translation, Women In Translation

Geography of Rebels Trilogy by Maria Gabriela Llansol (tr. Audrey Young)

Every once in a while I find a book so dense that it seems impenetrable. The kind of book that requires research to read. Like Joyce’s Ulysses (I took an entire course on Joyce in college) or Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury (Cliff Notes provided by my High School English teacher). I’ve always enjoyed information mining. But, the Geography of Rebels Trilogy is next … Continue reading Geography of Rebels Trilogy by Maria Gabriela Llansol (tr. Audrey Young)

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Poetry, Translation

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho, tr. Anne Carson (a #WITMonth post)

Title:  If Not, Winter – Fragments of Sappho Author:  Sappho Translator:  Anne Carson Language:  Classical Greek Publisher:  Vintage Books/Random House, New York (2002) ISBN:  0 375 72451 6 Is Sappho, who composed her poems c. 630-570 B.C., the earliest woman to have her work was translated into English? She was much admired in antiquity, the woman whom Plato called “the tenth muse”, but notwithstanding the immensity of her … Continue reading If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho, tr. Anne Carson (a #WITMonth post)

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Advance Review Copy, Fiction, Poetry, Translation

All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo de Souza Leão, translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry & Stefan Tobler

All Dogs Are Blue is a beautifully nuanced portrayal of mental illness.  Rodrigo de Souza Leão has given us a story set in a Brazilian mental institution which isn’t a caricature of lunacy.  The author does not fall into the familiar stereotypes.  He does not confine his narrator within a prison of horrors.  Nor does Souza Leão romanticize the disease, assigning it the attributes of genius.  … Continue reading All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo de Souza Leão, translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry & Stefan Tobler

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Literary Awards, Poetry, Translation

Flash Cards, poetry by Yu Jian (translated from the Chinese by Wang Ping & Ron Padgett)

I purchased this little book of poetry sometime last year on a whim.  It didn’t pop back up on my radar until after I read The True Deceiver, and discovered in the course of writing my review that both books were nominated for the 2011 Best Translated Book Award.  I immediately pulled it out of the pile and devoured Flash Cards in just a few … Continue reading Flash Cards, poetry by Yu Jian (translated from the Chinese by Wang Ping & Ron Padgett)

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Periodical, Podcast, Poetry, Short Story, Translation

Monkey Business (new writing from japan) – volume 01 / 2011

If you know me, then you probably know of my obsession with podcasts.  The latest and greatest being the Three Percent Podcast, hosted by Chad Post from Open Letter Books and Tom Roberge from New Directions.  I couldn’t give you a reason why I like listening to these guys – other than the great recommendations for translated lit and their knowledge of random (and frightening) … Continue reading Monkey Business (new writing from japan) – volume 01 / 2011

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